1. The Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to wearable infant carriers. More particularly, it concerns a wearable infant carrier having fewer parts and being made from a single strip of material.
2. The Background Art
A number of different infant carriers have been designed for convenient carrying of infants. Wearable infant carriers are popular in the form of back pack devices and, more recently, carriers designed to hold the infant in front of the wearer.
The prior art is thus replete with many different designs for wearable infant carriers, including those disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,246,152 (issued Sep. 21, 1993 to Dotseth), 4,941,604 (issued Jul. 17, 1990), 4,428,514 (issued Jan. 31, 1984), 4,234,229 (issued Nov. 18, 1980), 3,871,562 (issued Mar. 18, 1975 to Grenier) and 2,599,474 (issued Jun. 3, 1952 to Mills). Unfortunately, the wearable infant carriers known in the prior art are characterized by a number of distinct disadvantages, including an abundance of buckles and attachment structure and numerous sewn parts. The manufacture of such carriers is thus quite expensive and labor intensive, and it is time consuming for the wearers to put on and remove the carriers.